Grants and Contracts Specialist

WRI Mexico is looking for a Grant and Contract Specialist to provide direct support in the areas of grants and contracts management and administration. This will include preparing, processing, reviewing, tracking and updating grant agreements and sub-agreements and other administrative, operational, and support tasks as needed. The Grants and Contract Specialist will work closely with WRI D.C.to ensure contract compliance, financial accountability and smooth project performance

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required (preferably in law and finance)
• Minimum 4-5 years of relevant, full-time work experience, preferably in contract management, and compliance.
• Experience in nonprofit organization is desirable.
• Attention to deadlines particularly with regard to grant compliance and monitoring subgrant and contract relationships
• Strong process orientation with sensitivity to quality, timelines, and organizational systems
• Excellent oral and written English.
• Outstanding inter-personal skills
• Ability to write in an organized, clear, and articulate manner
• Must be adaptable to rapidly changing priorities.
• Ability to manage multiple projects with varying deadlines
• Strong computer skills, including high proficiency in Microsoft Office, web-based communications (Skype, Zoom, etc.).
• Strong team spirits, and ability to handle multiple priorities, take initiative, and deliver under tight deadlines
• Good understanding /background in local laws and statutory requirements,

  Job Responsibilities

  • Review of grants or contracts offered to WRI, ensuring they entail no undue risks, and confirming acceptability of conditions; price/budget; and scope of work
  • Serve as responsible party and institutional resource for issuance of agreements establishing payments from WRI to other parties, such as contracts, subgrants, or subcontracts
  • Review for acceptability all nonfinancial agreements - Memoranda of Understanding, Non-disclosure agreements, Teaming agreements, and licensing agreements.
    • Advise Program staff on unusual terms or notable compliance matters, both proactively and upon request and stay up-to-date on changes in donor compliance requirements.
      • Ensure that agreements are established in line with WRI policy or that the necessary approvals or waivers have been documented, before recommending for signature.
      • In support of forming high quality and low risk agreements, maintain a library of preferred template agreements
      • Ensure correct linkages between proposals and received awards; solicitations and contracts awarded; and funding awards.
      • Regular discussion with WRI Global to ensure general alignment of operating principles, policies and approaches
        • Maintenance of award files, to ensure complete documentation in preparation for financial and compliance audits, in alignment with funder, legal requirements, and WRI policies.
        • Reviewing and approving deliverable submissions
        • Consulting agreements, Internal / file audits
        • Compliance process (follow up and monitoring of documentation, questionnaire tracking, reviews, etc.) for contracts and subgrants.
        • Review cost proposals (providing budget guidance if needed), solicitations, subgrants/subcontracts and related contractual documents, negotiate grants, contracts, and sub-agreements and ensure compliance with donor terms.
        • Administrative support to the Colombian team
        • Advice on labor contracting issues for Mexico and Colombia